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Network LSD

Until I read Matt Taibbi's "Cleaning the Pool" ("Cage Match," 3/12) I thought I had gone insane. It's like living in the twilight zone out here. Watching television news makes my eyeballs melt. The newspapers aren't much better, and any exposure to Howard Fineman makes me froth at the mouth. But now I have that image of the Pepperidge Farm truck to sustain me. I'm smiling already.

A.C. Taylor, Knoxville, TN

Stay Tuned

One of the silly things I do with my time is to make up my own Academy Awards. Last weekend I worked out my top 10 movies, and I couldn't help but notice that I'd gone to see two of them based almost completely on New York Press movie reviews. So, I want to thank Matt Zoller Seitz for his strong recommendation of Satin Rouge, and Armond White for what I pretty much took as a rave for The Sleepy Time Gal. You guys have the best movie reviewers around, even with the weekly struggle to figure out what the hell Armond is saying. (If anyone cares, the rest of the top 10 was The Two Towers, The Son's Room, Secretary, Mostly Martha, Girls Can't Swim, All or Nothing, About Schmidt and Minority Report.) Oh, and about this week's reviews, Matt, you may be right about the subtext, but if you're trying to knock The Magnificent Seven, we're going to go a few rounds. And Armond White, for heaven's sake, don't keep us in suspense! If Spielberg isn't your favorite filmmaker, then who the hell is?

Devin McCullen, Green Brook, NJ

Suck Our Deck

Jeff Koyen is a critic blinded by bitterness. Witness his tirade against Robert Lanham's The Hipster Handbook ("The Intro," 3/12). His nasty tone aside, what Koyen overlooks is essential: humor. Even the refined Barnes & Noble editors classify the book as such. And in this case, when you don't get the joke you miss the point.

While science can't predict humor, one thing we know: hilarity edges between truth and subliminal discomfort. So when satire is both funny and intelligent, you know it's getting at something. Luckily for Lanham, most critics think the Handbook is laugh-out-loud funny. Not Koyen.

Koyen calls the book a joke and actually means it as an insult. Clearly he'd like to publish himself, presumably something with import beyond the cataloging and deconstructing he'll likely indulge in for the "Best of Manhattan" issue. But the modern scarcity of high art?either societal or from certain columnists?is not an excuse to lambaste Lanham's satire.

I agree with Koyen that our culture too often lists and repeats. (Side note: re-read his column and observe how he says "this culture" rather than "our culture" or "the culture." Question: has Koyen attained cultural independence?) Ultimately, the very demand for Lanham's book is evidence of a significant void that THH is filling with observation, not repetition. That's real content.

True, Lanham's portraits can support end-of-times nihilism. But they can also do the opposite: THH provides ammo to critique a nihilistic society that's already perilously indifferent to 2003's most serious concerns. Cultural portraits, like hard science, can be used for good or evil: when Lanham holds up the mirror to society, we can look at what we see with a sense of humor and grit, or we can shatter the glass out of bitterness. The latter only takes us away from truth and the very art that Koyen professes to respect. We are lost if bitterness preempts humor in the fight for change. Note to Lanham: next time, add some knock-knock jokes to help Koyen out.

Benjamin Stokes, Brooklyn

Full Court Press

Matt Taibbi: As a former White House reporter who knew how to ask questions and get presidents angry, I applaud your piece ("Cage Match," 3/12).

Saul Friedman, Edgewater, MD

Hello, Clarice

MUGGER: Your article on the Bush press conference captures exactly my thoughts ("MUGGER", 3/12). I think the president is wonderful and his detractors shameful and hypocritical. I hope they, not he, will be proven wrong.

Clarice Feldman, Washington, D.C.

Turn on the Laugh Track

Jeff Koyen pummeled Rob Lanham and The Hipster Handbook last week ("The Intro," 3/12). One of Lanham's shortcomings, Koyen writes, is for not "producing real work." I'd be interested to hear what constitutes real work. Does recounting getting one's anus probed by a woman's fingers count? Come on, Jeff, high standards for good work apply to you too!

Koyen writes, "I'd like to believe that the book is a joke. I'd like to think that Lanham is, as the Brits say, taking the piss. 'Cause if he's gunning for satire, he's way off." Let me urge Koyen to believe thus. I know Lanham and saw the Handbook when it was a short piece on FreeWilliamsburg.com. The Hipster Handbook is a grand goof. Rick Marin and the New York Times are dopes who missed the joke, lazy, gullible "journalists" who were bearded by the impish Lanham (one's reminded of Hunter Thompson suckering "journalists" in 1971 with his claim that Ed Muskie was an ibogaine addict).

Sure, there are folks who dress and behave in the silly ways that Lanham describes. But folks in Williamsburg don't walk around saying "deck" and "fin." That's a joke, as is much of what's written in it. The handbook mocks self-absorbed hipsters who imagine they are important and cutting edge (it doesn't catalog an important sociological phenomena, as the Times pinheads think). Maybe it doesn't count as satire to some, but to those of us in the neighborhood who have to put up with these sloppily dressed, shallow, silly asses, The Hipster Handbook is a funny caricature.

Kevin R. Kosar, Brooklyn

Mononamaniacal

Mike Signorile: Your last paragraph in "Red Alert City" hits the nail on the head ("The Gist," 3/12). I think you are right in your prediction about Bush using the opportunity of America's Armed Forces victory over Iraq by solidifying right wing support in Texas and Florida then moving on to re-election in 2004. Those repugs know propaganda and media manipulation. He'll be there for the convention and all the while he will have been screwing NYC but the public will see him paying tribute to the underfunded workers who did the work at the WTC after 9/11. I can just hear Bush's maudlin screed from the podium. Argh! Keep up the great work.

Dave Zaber, Monona, WI

Unhappy Endings

Congratulations to Matt Taibbi ("Cage Match," 3/12) for wisely identifying the unhealthy acquiescence of the White House press corps to the staged media event held by President Bush last week. Regardless of one's political leanings, the erosion of the watchdog role of the media, combined with a charade intended to convince the public that this was a traditional press conference, is frightening. Freedom of the press is a critical element of a healthy democracy. This slippery slope?with reporters arguing that they have to play by the rules in order to participate in these conferences?is analogous to the Wall St. research analysts who covered Enron and were afraid to question the company's prospects for fear that management would no longer talk to them or would exclude their firms from lucrative banking deals. We all know how that story ended.

David Bolotsky, Manhattan

Total Recall

Matt Taibbi: George W. Bush gets the Oscar for the single worst performance by a president in a propaganda role that I have ever seen (Cage Match" 3/12). The guy seemed totally befuddled, unsure about where he was or why he was there. He proffered no new information or evidence to support his argument that Saddam Hussein is a threat to the U.S. All we heard were the same old stock phrases. He refused to answer any questions, refused to give a cost estimate of his war, and dodged every approach from the reporters in the clumsiest and most obvious manner. (Where's Slick Willie when you need him?) The reporters seemed stunned to witness this pathetic performance. This man's arrogant and reckless eagerness to launch an unconstitutional preemptive war threatens every American everywhere in the world. Most other nations do not see him as a global dictator or agree that he has a moral right to change other governments.

If he goes through with his planned aggression, the Muslim world can respond with terrorism on a global basis. No American tourist or businessman would be safe anywhere. Add this nuttiness to the $2 gasoline, skidding stock market, growing unemployment, the sinking dollar, police state tactics at airports and the new Homeland Security Gestapo. I say it is time to recall the entire Bush regime. Fortunately, the Constitution provides for events such as when a president loses his mind. It's called impeachment. I therefore call on everyone to support the current impeachment documents now available on the votetoimpeach.org website. We just might be able to prevent this lunatic from setting the world in flames.

Don Hull, Costa Mesa, CA

We Are Those Children

To the employees of New York Press who have mentally challenged children: Matt Taibbi wrote: "They can't write, for instance, 'President Bush, looking like a demented retard on the eve of war?'" ("Cage Match" 3/12). And you thought the term "retard" was spewed only by thoughtless kids at play in school yards or half-drunk scumballs in biker bars. Maybe not. You work with Taibbi; you probably heard it before.

Robert Cherry, Ocean Pines, MD

What Dignity?

I am writing in support of the piece by Matt Taibbi and to voice my distaste for the behavior of the White House press corps at Bush's "press conference" last week ("Cage Match," 3/12). It is difficult enough to keep up my morale as a young journalist in this increasingly plastic business without seeing the supposedly best of our business acting like cardboard cut-outs. To the White House reporters: Is losing a seat at Ari's bullshit sessions more serious than losing your dignity and professional integrity?

Brett Corbin, Marion, IN

But He Could Speak and Spell

Re: Matt Taibbi. Bill Clinton and his people started this kind of press bullshit ("Cage Match" 3/12).

Alan Mastrud, Chicago

Little Big Man

Matt Taibbi: This piece is what clearly represents the American media that I remember. Clear and resolute, and without patience for hypocrisy. This is what is strong and viable about America and the American dream and was a beacon to the rest of the world. It was America that made such journalism the ideal in the world.

Taibbi took a big chance by printing such a scathing critique, but it helped me remember why I have such respect and admiration for the U.S.A. as opposed to the present fear and tinges of loathing. Whether one is a supporter or non-supporter of the issues surrounding Iraq is not the issue. What is the issue is that the issue becomes an issue that can and will be debated.

In short, excellent! When a young person enters college looking to secure a degree or to work through to the top of his/her profession, they usually envision themselves with the strength, character and opportunity to speak to power and the majority for the benefit of a basic truth. This writer, whom I've never read before, should feel very good because he was given the opportunity and through his character he found the strength to write unpleasant things that needed to be said. His family must be very proud of him. As a Sioux lawyer born and bred in Canada, this is what makes a warrior?the courage to face heavy odds in order to do the right thing.

Dean B. Head, Manitoba, Canada

Perhaps

This email is a bit late, but it's great to read Norman Kelley again ("Al Sharpton Is Killing Black Politics," 2/19). Perhaps he'll appear more often in New York Press.

S. Taylor, New Brunswick, NJ

Citizen Kohn

Joshua Cohen: By informing us that not only is there a hardcore Holocaust porn industry based in Israel ("Jewish pornography," 3/5) but that the films are made by Israelis and purchased mostly by Israelis, you raise the question who is an Israeli? It seems a lot is based on what your definition of an Israeli citizen is?do Palestinians count? I wonder how the rabbis would respond to this question. Or is it that you really want us to believe that a group of Jewish citizens living in Israel are exploiting the Holocaust for monetary gain? I'll ask my rabbi and get back to you.

J.F. Kohn, Manhattan

Then They Came for Tork

Jim Knipfel: While I am gratified that you have finally ceased your yammering concerning the mutant space spiders, it seems you have fallen back into the one other groove in the broken record of your journalistic output: the smoking ban ("Daily Billboard" 3/11).

If one rejects the position that no activity should be regulated by the government, one will soon reach a conclusion that is some variant on the theme that regulation should be proportionate to the external harm caused by the activity. On this premise, cigarette smoking should be less regulated than murder, but more so than scooping up dog shit from the sidewalk.

The fact is that one smoker can compel many people to suffer his smoke in a crowded, enclosed space like a bar. Although being forced to breathe secondhand smoke as the result of being in a bar is not the worst thing in the world, it is more directly harmful and less avoidable than the secondhand effects of being in the proximity of someone who is drinking alcohol, snorting cocaine, eating ecstasy, shooting heroin, or any manner of other drug use. And yet, all of those forms of drug use are far more heavily regulated.

So if one accepts the level of regulation on other types of drugs, then one must surely agree that greater regulation of smoking is long overdue. And if one does not accept the level of regulation on other drugs, then I must ask, where were all the smokers protesting against undercover cops busting people for drinking beer on the street? Just like the Holocaust, smokers have waited until the Gestapo came to them, and now there is no one left to defend them.

The obvious solution, of course, is to allow bars to pay for smoking licenses (just like they currently do for liquor licenses). Allowing bars to buy these licenses at auction, and then trade them amongst themselves, will lead to the correct pricing of the smoking privilege with respect to the costs of secondhand smoke. But a businessman like Mike Bloomberg would probably not want to do something like that.

Jabairu S. Tork, Boston

Oklahoma's Okay

Matt Taibbi: Thank you for confirming the fact that I'm really not crazy?that this press conference and, indeed, the whole administration's performance, is one of manipulation, lying and barely camouflaging their self-serving ("Cage Match" 3/12). I'm not sure who they call to get the responses they do because everyone I know and talk to, even strangers, is very opposed to this man and his handlers. It's surreal. Keep up the columns?there are some of us who read it and feel somewhat heartened.

Elisabeth Ham, Tulsa, OK

Down, Boy

Matt Taibbi: "Politely grabs their ankles" is the most genteel description I've read of an event so pornographic in nature that it is a wonder it didn't end with a big slow-motion money shot ("Cage Match" 3/12). Oh! Oh! On my face, Your Majesty! Our Monica press at work.

Jeff Crook, Memphis, TN

Don't Forget Tom

MUGGER: In an otherwise excellent column ("MUGGER," 3/12), you wrote: "At least William Safire, the Times' lone op-ed columnist of substance, gets it right." Safire isn't alone. Thomas L. Friedman's columns, while stopping short of coming out in favor of the war, are also quite insightful on the question. He clearly "gets it," understanding that the enemy is Islamic fascism, that the Bush doctrine is (his words) "bold," and an "audacious?shake of the dice" and acknowledges the argument in favor of not letting Iraq become another North Korea. He is only missing (or has lost, thanks to the decay at the Old Grey Lady) the faith and optimism about America and democracy in general that would permit him to actually endorse the war. Since no sane person should ever actually pay to read anything in the Times, you'll be happy to know that his columns can be found online.

John Hadjisky, Leland, MI

Clean Copy

Imagine my surprise! After reading New York Press, for what, almost 15 years, I accidentally found myself reading MUGGER ("MUGGER" 3/12). See where a little use of clean design and straight typography can get you? Glad to see you have dropped all that damn bold name-dropping. Now, if only the ideas expressed were as worthwhile as his new look.

Paul Sheridan, Brooklyn

No Substitutions, Please

Matt Taibbi: On the voluntary self-castration of the White House press corps at the recent "press" conference ("Cage Match," 3/12), I couldn't agree more. It was eloquent, well-written and comprehensive. I'd like to recommend Taibbi look back at the work of I.F. Stone, who I've been reading this week, and see what can be done by a journalist who refused to ever go to a press conference or to be used by "unnamed sources." With nothing but incredible library skills, omnivorous reading and the Congressional Record, his account of Vietnam and the politics of those days beats anything I've read recently about this war. If you substitute Iraq for Vietnam, it could serve as an accurate accounting of everything that is happening politically right now.

Kate Gilbert, Cambridge, MA

Welcome Back

Matt Taibbi: Very nice piece on the press ("Cage Match" 3/12). Thank you. I lived in Japan from 1986 to 2000, and even though the press there was accused of behaving like sheep, it seems that now they've gotten over it (with the U.S. press as a model, they say). Just in time for us to completely give up on journalism.

Maggie Kinser Hohle, Butler, NJ

Right. Enjoy London

Fine article ("Cage Match" 3/12). I'm moving to London until Bush leaves office. It seems we're outnumbered. Time to move on... I just can't take much more of this administration. Every day it gets worse, with no end in sight.

Nate Roth, San Mateo, CA

Give Savage His Rope

In regards to the recent article "Ignoble Savage" concerning MSNBC's plans to give Michael Savage a show, I must say I'm disgusted ("The Gist" 3/5). Not only am I disgusted by Savage's racism, homophobia and general spirit of hatred, but I am also disgusted that people would take steps to end the show before it starts. This comes dangerously close to censorship. Again, I detest Savage's ideas, but I defend his right to express them. I want to see Savage's show fail as much as anyone, but I want to see it fail because the American people reject his ideas and refuse to watch, not because certain groups put pressure on the network and advertisers to pull the plug.

Ken Cobb, Detroit

Murderous Consorts

MUGGER: The United Nations is worse than useless, worse than irrelevant; it is deadly ("MUGGER" 3/12). Millions have died in Iraq, Iran, Rwanda, Cambodia, Somalia, North Korea and many other killer countries because of U.N. dithering or outright connivance with the regimes that are doing the murder.

Eric DeMille, Tempe, AZ

Europe Don't Play That

Matt Taibbi: The only problem with the piece was that it was much too kind ("Cage Match," 3/12). The president was supposed to give a press conference. He walked solemnly on the red carpet to the podium and immediately launched into what was clearly a speech. At that moment the only possible ethical response for the press corps would have been to rise to their feet as a group and silently file out of the room. It is not as if they did not have fair warning.

In addition, there is the example of how Bush pulled out of a speech to the European Parliament in November of last year when Strasbourg would not ensure that he would be accorded a standing ovation on the order of the kind normally given at the State of the Union speech. In addition the White House wanted to be sure that there could be no heckling or protests. The members of the European Parliament felt that they could not assure the White House that these requirements could be met. The result was President Bush did not speak. Perhaps it is best that the White House press corps learn to consider themselves as extras in the staged presentations presented by this White House.

Linda Brown, Thousand Oaks, CA

The Star of Bethlehem

Matt Taibbi: I wouldn't disagree with a word ("Cage Match" 3/12). Now, the next question invariably becomes: What can we do about this? Apparently, this group of lapdogs is beyond shame, which places the American populace in a terribly precarious situation. How do we get the news we need to understand what is happening in this country and around the world, and what is being done in our names? At any rate, thanks for running such a great piece. I hope it gets the attention it deserves.

Linda Harbrecht, Bethlehem, PA

Bush's Little Helper

Thanks to Matt Taibbi for the nice fat dose of truth on Bush's so-called "press conference" ("Cage Match" 3/12). Like Taibbi, I found the whole thing an exercise in laughing out loud, as did everyone else I know. Tom Shales' article in the Washington Post's Style section at least gave indication that not all members of the press are blind and deaf. He wondered if Bush possibly had taken a little pill beforehand, and made an interesting and hilarious (though totally irrelevant, of course) side foray into the past and Nixon's scary press conferences. If Taibbi didn't see it, it might at least settle his stomach.

Linda O'Brien, Takoma Park, MD

Ogling

Matt Taibbi: A 30,000-foot drop into the icy North Atlantic is too good for anyone who accepted the White House's terms ("Cage Match" 3/12). No one should attend the next "press conference" of this type. Except maybe someone from the Washington Times, Fox News and the New York Post.

Patrick Ogle, Hollywood, FL

Rarified

WHAT A refreshingly honest and brilliant appraisal of the farce, referred to by the national media as a "press conference" ("Cage Match" 3/12). That disgusting piece of sycophantic claptrap deserves to be called a press conference about as much as Bush deserves to be called president. Thank you for having the courage and journalistic integrity to both hire and print such an amazing journalist as Matt Taibbi. He is rare and valuable in our current "watch what you say" near-police-state environment.

Sandy Potter, Kingston, NY

Got a Refill?

Gregg Rosenberg, Herndon, VA

Go to the Videotape

Matt Taibbi: I very much enjoyed reading your biting assessment of our fearless leader's TV appearance on Thursday last. However, there was one reporter (and I didn't catch his name) that crafted a question that caused Bush to lose his composure (he actually twisted his head and wrinkled his brow as if to say "you'd better not be asking what I think you're asking"). The question mentioned Vietnam and Iraq. I usually videotape these scenes of "Americana" for posterity, but my machine was on the blink. Do you know who this reporter is? His position in the script was 2nd or 3rd from the end. I was kind of proud of him for, obviously, crafting a question that was not in the script. Thanks for all you do!

Gary Bergeron, Lowry Crossing, TX

We're Everything for Everyone

Mike Signorile: Very good article with salient points, as usual ("The Gist," 3/12). How can you work on a paper with Russ Smith, whose article in this same issue was disgusting? Thank god you are there for a counterbalance. I thought the Press was liberal. Your point about the big cheeses being whisked to safety was great, among others people I know worry about which seem to go unheeded, i.e., retaliation. Please keep up the good work.

MUGGER, you wrote (3/12): "And don't even get me started about Kofi Annan or the Pope." With what moral authority do you speak, journalist? The "No Blood for Oil" Crowd? The title of your article is barbaric. Your subterfuges are very weak of suasion. Very many here and worldwide believe thou shalt not kill.

V.C. Webster, San Francisco

Mike Signorile: It is beginning to appear that shows such as The O'Reilly Factor and now Savage Nation are going to foster deep hatred in this country ("The Gist," 3/5). These two and more go on tv, ridicule and label individuals with differing views and throw religion straight in your face. Dislike something Israel does?labeled anti-Semite, don't believe in the upcoming war with Iraq?labeled un-American. Just as O'Reilly made his "personal" boycott of Pepsi on air (knowing that his boycott would be picked up by his followers) and now this idiot Savage making the statement that if you are against current Bush's policies, you should leave the country for you are a traitor and coward.

With the new revelation that tv is installing violence in our youth, programs like O'Reilly's and Savage's will teach our youth that if your views differ from the famous guy on tv, you either shut up or you'll be labeled something nasty and made an outcast. Didn't the Puritans do that in Salem a while back? Supposed journalists like these should be held accountable for the acts committed by those who follow them. These people definitely know that when they are in front of the camera claiming they are just offering their opinion and reporting the news, what they really are doing is planting the seeds of intolerance and bigotry. Some of us are not fooled.

Duane Gary, New Haven, CT

Consider It Mentioned

Jeff Koyen: You confessed in a recent column ("The Intro," 3/5) to having an "obsessive-compulsive urge to pick up every free publication [you] come across." Have you come across New York Tails yet? Yes, that's my humble pub, now in its second edition (Spring 2003). It's a free, full-color glossy for the people and pets of New York City. We try to be fun yet very informative. Our Spring 2003 issue, for example, has an article that deals with estate planning for pets. Did you know, for example, that a pet is considered "property" in most states, to be passed on like a condo or a couch? New York, however, has had a "pet estate law" on the books since 1996, and this article gives tips on how to set up a trust for a companion animal. We also have details on how to evacuate your pets safely in case the city comes under an emergency evacuation?unpleasant to consider, but unfortunately necessary in these days and in our city. On the other hand, we have fun articles like "The Scoop on Poop," where we sent New Yorkers out to test-scoop a variety of pooper-scoopers on the market. And boy, did they give us their opinions! And "Psycho Squirrels" details the deep trouble one of our readers got in when they befriended a squirrel who visited them on their fire escape. I'll send you a copy of the magazine. Any positive mention you could give about us would be great.

Diane West, Manhattan

Skipping Kids

Matt Taibbi: I just wanted to point out that 19 children were killed in the Oklahoma bombing ("Cage Match," 3/5). The facts should have been checked.

Brian Welch, Boston

Probably Not Us

Regarding Matt Taibbi's "Cleaning the Pool" ("Cage Match," 3/12): Fantastic. Thank you so much. I've been waiting for someone to write about the sad state of the Washington press corps. So sad to see them demean themselves day after day. So outrageous that they do not see or care to see the harm it is doing their country. Please keep writing about the "writers." With the country at the eve of war, I'm sure you'll have plenty to say about the reporters not reporting and getting on television pretending to report when they are only regurgitating what the White House and Pentagon tell them. Who? Who will save this country from itself?

Susan Perkins, Billerica, MA

Tools' Rules

Matt Taibbi: Thanks for saying what everyone I know has been saying for almost a year ("Cage Match," 3/12). The White House press corps is basically a tool for White House spin at this point. Thank you and keep up the pressure on these so-called journalists.

Christopher Harris, Fayetteville, AR

Swiss Account

MUGGER: If it wasn't very, very sad, I would be roaring with laughter ("MUGGER" 3/12). You wrote, "Bush is an honest man who believes in his policies, whether it's regime change in Iraq, stabilizing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict once Arafat takes a powder, privatizing Social Security, tort and Medicare reform, cutting taxes and one day liberalizing immigration laws. There's probably an even chance these views will cost Bush his presidency. Yet, unlike Clinton, who began working on his historical legacy the day he was elected, if Bush is defeated by a Democrat in 2004, he'll return to Texas disappointed but resolute that he acted in the interests of his fellow countrymen."

Susanne Rohrer, Zurich, Switzerland

But What a Month!

MUGGER: You say de Villepin's party is about to fizzle? It looks like Tony Blair isn't going to last a month.

Tina Green, Santa Cruz

Conscription Description

MUGGER: As a veteran of the 1967 draft, I don't necessarily agree ("MUGGER," 3/5). The draft of those years was unfair in that not everyone was equally eligible. A host of deferments, some good, some bad; and plain old political pull influenced the local draft board decisions.

In my own case, the local draft board had a limited pool of home-grown kids to draw from. The same board had several military bases with draft-age dependents coming through on a three-year rotation. That demographic situation gave impetus to putting more effort on drafting the military kids who registered in that district; even if the families had transferred on. In truth, it didn't matter much: As a group, the military kids, due to their father's occupations, were more likely to do a hitch in the first place.

I recognize that Rangel's treatment of the draft issue is simple opportunism. Traub is even more off the mark.

Any draft is only as good as the equality of the process. If the kids' parents have local or national pull, then the draft is bound to have more than the kids' opposition. (The opposition of the kids is a given; they'd have to do some physical work.)

There is one danger to the lack of a draft: A military filled with those who want to be there, who want to follow orders, who want the power?is a military which may not question the validity of their orders over time. That is a danger to the country, as it was to 1930s Germany.

W. M. Sullivan, Pacific Grove, CA

Decon the Neocon

New York Press just wouldn't be complete without another installment of chicken-hawk warmonger crap from Russ Smith ("MUGGER," 3/12). Let's examine a few of his remarks: "[Bush] is about to declare war on Iraq, against a blizzard of domestic and international protest."

Have you wondered why this blizzard exists? It exists because Bush's preemptive attack is immoral and unnecessary. If the U.S. invades without U.N. authorization, Bush should be tried at the Hague.

"Bush's decision to take questions from a mostly skeptical press corps, eager to trip him up." Are you joking? The press conference was a scripted off-off-Broadway show. Nothing was left to chance. Read Matt Taibbi's essay ("Cage Match," 3/12).

"The most compelling argument Bush made was that...the U.S. is, post-9/11, now a battlefield." The battlefield part may be true, but there is no evidence of